Michael Busto (born June 20, 1986) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

. He most recently played for Ducs d'Angers of the French

Ligue Magnus The Ligue Magnus, currently known as Synerglace Ligue Magnus for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's division of the French ice hockey pyramid, established in 1906. The league operated under a variety of names before taking that of its champio ...

Playing career

Busto was born, in

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard In ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. Busto played in the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior hocke ...

with the Swift Current Broncos, Kootenay Ice, and

Moose Jaw Warriors The Moose Jaw Warriors are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team based in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The Warriors play in the East Division of the Western Hockey League's Eastern Conference, hosting games at the Moose Jaw Events Centre. The t ...

. On April 27, 2007, Busto signed with the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

to a three-year, entry-level contract. Busto was then assigned to Rangers affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers of the ECHL. Busto spent two seasons with the Checkers before on June 30, 2009, he was traded by the Rangers, along with Scott Gomez and Tom Pyatt, to the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

for Chris Higgins, Ryan McDonagh, Doug Janik and Pavel Valentenko. After completion of his entry-level contract, Busto was released as a free agent by the Canadiens to briefly play in 9 games with the

Elmira Jackals The Elmira Jackals were a professional minor league ice hockey team based in Elmira, New York. They were members of the United Hockey League from 2000 to 2007 and the ECHL from 2007 to 2017. The Jackals played their home games at First Arena. ...

during the 2009–10 season. He belatedly signed a one-year deal in Europe with Italian club, HC Bolzano of the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

on December 27, 2010. Busto played in 12 games for Bolzano before returning to the familiar ECHL for the following 2011–12 season with the Las Vegas Wranglers. Busto enjoyed his most successful season in the ECHL playing in a career high 65 games and contributing to the Wranglers playoff run as

Kelly Cup The Patrick J. Kelly Cup goes to the playoff champion of the ECHL. The Kelly Cup has been awarded to teams since 1997. Prior to 1997, the playoff winner was awarded the Riley Cup, named after former American Hockey League president Jack Riley. Th ...

finalists. On June 25, 2012, Busto returned to Europe to sign an initial one-year contract with French club Ducs d'Angers of the Ligue Magnus. In the 2012–13 season with the Owls, Busto led the team from the blueline in scoring with 14 points in 26 games. He was signed to a two-year contract extension on May 7, 2013.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Busto, Michael 1986 births Living people Bolzano HC players Charlotte Checkers (1993–2010) players Dayton Gems players Ducs d'Angers players Elmira Jackals (ECHL) players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Kootenay Ice players Las Vegas Wranglers players Moose Jaw Warriors players Ice hockey people from Burnaby Swift Current Broncos players Canadian ice hockey defencemen 21st-century Canadian sportsmen